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After reading about the Felix Lopez story, do you still believe the official story that the Yankees didn't land Yoan Moncada simply because they were outbid?

That has been the case often this season. The Yanks carry small leads throughout ball games and ask their starters and bullpen to win under the most difficult circumstances where one mistake could mean the lead or the game.

Sound familiar? Sure it does. That's how teams are asked to win in October: close margins and little room for mistakes.

Of course the Bronx Bombers would like to be scoring more runs to give their pitchers an easier time, but that isn't happening right now. Instead, the team's relievers are in a playoff atmosphere almost every night and that can only serve them well when the postseason approaches.

It's a different animal entirely to pitch with a small lead. It can add a ton of pressure on the shoulders of the guy on the mound, as opposed to pitchers who throw with a bigger lead and can afford mistakes.

There is that vaunted #Yankees bullpen doing it yet again. No room for error when your team can’t score runs. #Mariners

You can't afford mistakes in October, as many of those pitchers who are used to getting run production find out when they cough up a lead. Not the Yankees pitchers, though, because they are already finding out firsthand that a one-run lead is nothing that can be played around with.

That one run is something Yankee pitchers not only appreciate, but thrive with nearly each and every time they are presented with the scenario.

So, by the time October comes (if the Yanks make it there), a pressure-packed, close game will be nothing more than another day at the park for the Yankees pitching staff and that's a huge advantage to have over an opposing team.